Mental Health in Action

Mental Health Awareness In Action is a new Congregational social action project designed to improve the lives of people living with mental illness.

This is our work, some of it begun and some planned for our future:

To raise awareness of mental illness by educating ourselves and others

To reduce the stigma of mental illness by telling the stories of those living with mental illness and their families

To improve the lives of those coping with mental illness by helping them get appropriate and timely treatment

To advocate for more rational and compassionate mental health laws in California and nationally

To advocate for expanded resources so that access to care is greatly improved

To create a society where people with mental illness no longer populate our jails and prisons or, homeless, fend for themselves on the streets

We are aware we have congregants in our midst who are living with mental illness. We have families who are silent because of stigma.
In our country more than a quarter of adults are coping with mental health issues in any given year.* Together, we intend to make Congregation Emanu El a place where no one feels excluded. And we intend to help repair the world by working to bring about a new attitude toward mental illness and a new willingness to see to it that each of us thrives and enjoys respect.

*National Institute of Mental Health

Please use the menu at right to read speeches from our congregants about their own experiences.